There has long been an imaginative current flowing in popular culture relating to magic, which has recently culminated in the Harry Potter phenomenon. Given the widespread commercial success of Harry Potter books and feature films, as well the many predecessors in the fantasy genre such as The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, etc., it is readily apparent that a number of communities or demographic segments are enamored with the idea of magic. Discounting the aforementioned communities, even the most pragmatic individual would have trouble arguing against the merits or utility of, say, a magic wand that actually worked to control or communicate with objects or components in an associated nearby environment.
Conventionally, a number of devices exist that are intended to operate or control objects in the environment, even some that are specifically intended to leverage, simulate, or promote the appearance of magic. However, systems or devices in this technological area as well as even much broader market segments aimed at, say, consumer devices in general often suffer from a variety of difficulties that stem from two market-driving factors that are distinct and sometimes at odds with one another. In particular, consumers want devices that have a very rich feature set. On the other hand, consumers also want devices that are small, convenient (e.g., to carry), and easy to use.
Miniaturization of electronic devices has reached the point where significant computing power can be delivered in devices smaller than a matchbook. Hence, miniaturization is no longer the primary technological bottleneck for meeting the demands of consumers. Rather, the challenges are increasingly leaning toward the user interface of such devices. For example, technology exists for building a full-featured cellular phone (or other device) that is no larger than a given user's thumb, yet packing a keypad and display in such a device is all but impossible. Even devices that are not so small, but desire to provide multifunctional features can suffer from a related difficulty. In particular, packing a lot of features into a single device generally increases the complexity of use.
To avoid such difficulties, conventional devices that are intended to operate or control numerous environmental components simplify the user-interface, which reduces the feature set; or have highly complex operational requirements that make the device very difficult to use.